Marvin Earl "Monty" Roberts
MVO (born May 14, 1935) is an American
horse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
who promotes his techniques of
natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship is a collective term for a variety of horse training techniques which have seen rapid growth in popularity since the 1980s. The techniques vary in their precise tenets but generally share principles of "a kinder and gentler ...
through his ''Join-Up International'' organization, named after the core concept of his training method. Roberts believes that horses use a non-verbal language, which he terms "Equus," and that humans can use this language to communicate with horses. In order to promulgate his methods, Roberts has authored a number of books including his original best-seller, ''The Man Who Listens to Horses'',
[
] and regularly tours with a live demonstration. He runs an Equestrian Academy in
Solvang, California
Solvang (; ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May ...
and an "online university" to promote his ideas.
Early life
Monty Roberts was born in
Salinas, California
Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...
and is the son of horse trainer Marvin E Roberts, who authored his own self-published book, ''Horse and Horseman Training'', in 1957.
Roberts claims that his father also beat him as a child, although other family members, including his younger brother Larry, dispute this version of events, with his aunt and cousin, Joyce Renebome and Debra Ristau, specifically refuting the allegation in the book ''
Horse Whispers & Lies''.
Roberts competed in
rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
and won his first trophy at the age of four.
[Cal Poly Magazine, Spring 1998]
/ref> He attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...
("Cal Poly") and riding for their rodeo team, he won two National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association
The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), based in Walla Walla, Washington, was established in 1949. The NIRA sanctions more than 100 college rodeos every year in the United States, and represents over 3,500 student athletes attending ...
(NIRA) National Championships, including National NIRA Champion Bulldogger in 1957, the NIRA Champion Team Roping
Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer (typically a Corriente) and two mounted riders. The first roper is referred to as the "header", the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around the ...
in 1956. He graduated from Cal Poly in 1959 with a degree in animal science.[
In 1966, Roberts assisted in the founding of Flag Is Up Farms, of which he is now the full owner. From 1973 to 1986, he was a leading consignor to the Hollywood Park Two-Year-Old Thoroughbreds in Training Sale. In 2004, Roberts’ German-bred horse Sabiango won major races throughout the US.
]
Career
Roberts describes in his books and web site how he was sent to Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
at the age of 13 in order to round up horses for the Salinas Rodeo Association's Wild Horse Race, and there began observing mustang
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
s interact with each other. It was there he realized that horses use a discernible, effective and predictable body language
Body language is a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space. Th ...
to communicate, set boundaries, show fear and express annoyance, relaxation or affection. Roberts states he came to understand that utilizing this silent language would allow training to commence in a much more effective and humane manner, encouraging true partnership between horses and humans. Roberts describes this language as ''Equus'' and he refers to it frequently in his books, tours and demonstrations.
In his books, he has written about how he strongly disagreed with his father's equine training methods, which he described as "almost torturing the animals into submission". However, Marvin Roberts' own book has described training methods similar to the "Join-up" technique developed by son.[ However, critics have also noted parallels between the training methods of both father and son. In 2000 critics of Roberts registered a website using his name: www.montyroberts.org. After litigation, ]WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishin ...
ruled against these parties stating they had "engaged in abusive registration" and transferred ownership to Roberts. Roberts says the website owners tried to blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
him for US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
90,000 to transfer the domain name.
Three documentaries on Roberts have been released. The first was the 1997 documentary BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
/PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
''Monty Roberts: The Real Horse Whisperer''. It showed Roberts as he set out to tame a wild mustang without enclosures, and his developing relationship with the horse later known as Shy Boy. Other documentaries include the 1999 film ''Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild'' and a 2005 documentary on Roberts' work with wild horses and another about his work with aboriginal youth on Palm Island, Australia. In 2006, a DVD series with 17 episodes, named ''A Backstage Pass!'' was completed and broadcast in the UK. The series has also been broadcast in the US on the HRTV cable channel.
He has his own show on Horse & Country TV
Horse & Country (H&C) is an equestrian sports digital media company.
Distribution
H&C was on satellite television on Sky channel 184 in the United Kingdom (UK) and is also available on Amazon Prime Video in UK & Germany and on Roku, as well a ...
, ''Backstage Pass with Monty Roberts''.
Horse training
Live demonstrations
Roberts travels around the world, demonstrating his method of horse training to paying audiences, as well as volunteering time for audiences such as incarcerated youth in juvenile detention facilities. Roberts also teaches his techniques to students at his Equestrian Academy in Solvang, California, acts as a consultant at schools with disciplinary issues in the UK and the US, and advises executives at Fortune 500 companies. He also runs the "Equus Online University" to promote his ideas.
Royal connections
An event which would change the direction of his life was an invitation in 1989 from the offices of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, who was an avid horsewoman. After hearing about Roberts' training techniques, she invited him to come to the United Kingdom to demonstrate his "Join Up" method to her stable staff. After watching his demonstration, Roberts said the Queen urged him to write a book about his nonviolent methods, which became ''The Man Who Listens to Horses''. During his book tour of the UK in 1996, Roberts presented a copy of his book to the Queen.
In 2002 Roberts returned to Windsor Castle as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee
A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...
. In the 2011 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,[Member of the Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...]
(MVO) "for services to Her Majesty's racing establishment". In June 2012, the Queen, as Patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of Join–Up International, attended the Guards Polo Club
The Guards Polo Club is an English polo club in Windsor, Berkshire. It was most closely associated with the British Royal Family. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was President of the club from its formation on 25 January 1955 until his death i ...
, and along with Roberts presented awards to international polo trainers from South and Central America in recognition of their work in promoting the non–violent training of horses.
After the death of the Queen on 8 September 2022, Roberts was invited to her funeral on 19 September.
Writing
Roberts has published several books. His first was the autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
''The Man Who Listens to Horses'' which was published in 1996, which was on the New York Times Bestsellers list for 58 weeks, and translated into more than 15 languages, selling more than five million copies worldwide. Roberts has written other books, including best-selling ''Shy Boy: The Horse That Came in from the Wild'' (1999), ''Horse Sense for People'' (2001), ''From My Hands to Yours'' (2002), ''The Horses in My Life'' (2005) and ''Ask Monty'' (2007).
Awards
In 2002, Roberts received an honorary doctorate in animal psychology
Comparative psychology refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, especially as these relate to the phylogenetic history, adaptive significance, and development of behavior. Research in this area addr ...
from the University of Zurich
The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
, Switzerland and in 2005 he gained an honorary doctorate in animal psychology from the University of Parma
The University of Parma ( it, Università degli Studi di Parma, UNIPR) is a public university in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is organised in nine departments. As of 2016 the University of Parma has about 26,000 students.
History
During the ...
, Italy. In 2004, the Girl Scouts of the USA
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...
commissioned a special Join-Up badge and training program in honor of Roberts' work, and in 2005 he became the first foreign-born recipient of the German Silbernes Pferd (Silver Horse) Award for outstanding contributions to promoting the love of horses. In December 2008, readers of the British equestrian magazine ''Your Horse'' named Monty Roberts Personality of the Year 2008.[ ]
See also
* '' Horse Whispers and Lies'' (1999 biography)
* 'People who Train People: An interview with Monty Roberts.' (1997) ''The Teacher Trainer.'' Vol. 11 No. 3 pp 14–15 Pilgrims: Canterbury.
References
External links
*
*
Monty Roberts on Horse & Country TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Monty
1935 births
Living people
Western horse trainers
American racehorse trainers
Natural horsemanship
American biographers
Honorary Members of the Royal Victorian Order